What ? ! No Oscar thread this year?? !

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At the time, Fiennes was nearly a complete unknown, and the Oscar rarely goes to unknown performers. The thinking is said to be that since he's young, he'll have another shot in the future. Tommy Lee Jones was in the midst of a comeback. After starting out with a few promising roles in the 70's, his career dipped throughout the 1980's in B movies and commercial failures. JFK in 1991 earned him an Oscar nod (I thought he should have won that year over the sentimental career win for Jack Palance) and kickstarted a career resurgence. He would go on to be one of the busiest actors in the 1990's, appearing in 16 movies after JFK. Jones' subsequent win for The Fugitive was thought of as both a career acknowledgment and a nod toward one of the biggest commercial hits of that year. I personally also think Fiennes should have won. The fact that he still hasn't won one is lamentable.

The supporting Oscar actor usually goes to older, established actors. While supporting actress trends younger for some reason.......

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Actually, the last time they did an Oscar Family Album was in 2003, for the 75th ceremony. Olivia de Havilland introduced it, and among the new recipients that year was Peter O'Toole, who received his lifetime achievement award. The event was closer to 10 minutes than 45, as was suggested a few posts back.

The following Oscar-winners who attended that year have all sadly passed away:

Ernest Borgnine

Red Buttons

Celeste Holm

Jennifer Jones

George Kennedy

Martin Landau

Karl Malden

Patricia Neal

Jack Palance

Luise Rainer

Cliff Robertson

Mickey Rooney

Maximilian Schell

Teresa Wright

Peter O'Toole

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Actually, the last time they did an Oscar Family Album was in 2003, for the 75th ceremony. Olivia de Havilland introduced it, and among the new recipients that year was Peter O'Toole, who received his lifetime achievement award. The event was closer to 10 minutes than 45, as was suggested a few posts back.

The following Oscar-winners who attended that year have all sadly passed away:

Ernest Borgnine

Red Buttons

Celeste Holm

Jennifer Jones

George Kennedy

Martin Landau

Karl Malden

Patricia Neal

Jack Palance

Luise Rainer

Cliff Robertson

Mickey Rooney

Maximilian Schell

Teresa Wright

Peter O'Toole

Yes, I remember that tribute. And how so many that were there are gone now.

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Actually, the last time they did an Oscar Family Album was in 2003, for the 75th ceremony. Olivia de Havilland introduced it, and among the new recipients that year was Peter O'Toole, who received his lifetime achievement award. The event was closer to 10 minutes than 45, as was suggested a few posts back.

Thanks for that reminder! I don't even remember much about the 75th Oscars except for Michael Moore"s denunciation of the invasion of Iraq. And then there was Best Actor winner Adrien Brody's kissing marathon with presenter Halle Berry.

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Actually, the last time they did an Oscar Family Album was in 2003, for the 75th ceremony. Olivia de Havilland introduced it, and among the new recipients that year was Peter O'Toole, who received his lifetime achievement award. The event was closer to 10 minutes than 45, as was suggested a few posts back.

The following Oscar-winners who attended that year have all sadly passed away:

Ernest Borgnine

Red Buttons

Celeste Holm

Jennifer Jones

George Kennedy

Martin Landau

Karl Malden

Patricia Neal

Jack Palance

Luise Rainer

Cliff Robertson

Mickey Rooney

Maximilian Schell

Teresa Wright

Peter O'Toole

Mickey Rooney's Oscar was an honorary one though, all the others won theirs from the regular competition.

Some folks had a problem with him and Kirk Douglas being in the last Oscar Family Album, seeing as they were 'given' their Oscars rather than have won them. I've made no secret that I am not Rooney's biggest fan, but no one can say he didn't have a long and lengthy career. Same with Kirk.

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Mickey Rooney's Oscar was an honorary one though, all the others won theirs from the regular competition.

Some folks had a problem with him and Kirk Douglas being in the last Oscar Family Album, seeing as they were 'given' their Oscars rather than have won them. I've made no secret that I am not Rooney's biggest fan, but no one can say he didn't have a long and lengthy career. Same with Kirk.

Rooney's award was a Juvenile Oscar, which was presented off and on until 1960. That's why Margaret O'Brien, Claude Jarman, Jr. and Hayley Mills were there, too.

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I don't have a problem with Tommy Lee Jones' Oscar win for "The Fugitive." He commanded a viewer's attention from the first moment he appeared on the screen. His Marshal Gerard was as dogged a pursuer as Javert in "Les Misérables" -- the inspiration for the character.

One can make the same argument for Ralph Fiennes as Goeth in SCHINDLER'S LIST....he grabs your attention whenever he's on screen, no matter how vile and loathsome he is. You also see his very few 'gentle' moments whenever he's with Helena (and even those end up exploding into violence).

Again, I have nothing against Jones, but Fiennes IMO gave an equally commanding (and far more complex) performance.

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One can make the same argument for Ralph Fiennes as Goeth in SCHINDLER'S LIST....he grabs your attention whenever he's on screen, no matter how vile and loathsome he is. You also see his very few 'gentle' moments whenever he's with Helena (and even those end up exploding into violence).

Again, I have nothing against Jones, but Fiennes gave an equally commanding (and far more complex) performance more deserving of the Oscar.

And this is why Redford's idea is best. I can imagine Daniel Kaluuya edging out Timothée Chalamet in a footrace for the Best Actor award this year.

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I don't even know if she really thinks of herself as a professional actress, or if she intends to stay in the profession. I'm unaware if she's ever done anything besides Girls and this movie. I was kind of surprised none of the white people in this movie got supporting category nominations. Catherine Keener would have been the most obvious choice, but Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry-Jones and Stephen Root were all also great.

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I don't even know if she really thinks of herself as a professional actress, or if she intends to stay in the profession. I'm unaware if she's ever done anything besides Girls and this movie. I was kind of surprised none of the white people in this movie got supporting category nominations. Catherine Keener would have been the most obvious choice, but Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry-Jones and Stephen Root were all also great.

Don't forget that Williams starred in NBC's 2014 special "Peter Pan Live!" Jordan Peele saw it and became interested in casting her in "Get Out."

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they rereleased GET OUT in theaters ca. president's day and I still didn't get around to seeing it. it's not on netflix and i think it was too pricey on amazon prime last i checked

i don't watch a lot of modern tv, but i LOVEDKEY AND PEELE, their stuff is going to be as funny 30, 40, 50 years from now if we are still alive...and capable of laughter.

I borrowed it along with several others nominated this year from my local library...
Great thing "our" Public Libraries. One of the Best (and more tangible) investments of our hard earned tax dollars...

I just watched a movie that shook me in a way that I have seldom been shook. And, in keeping with the theme of this thread introduces what I believe to be the latest great "Mad Scientist/Doctor" candidates to the screen!

I am referring to neurosurgeon Dean Armitage and his psychiatrist hypnotherapist wife Missy Armitage in last years horror thriller GET OUT (nominated for Oscar/s this year).

I will not spoil this movie for anyone who has not yet seen it... But I must at least say this.... This film took me back to some of those same creepy scary moments I felt when watching Play Misty for Me (1971) and Fatal Attraction (1987) for the first time... And those two had a dramatic impact on the "casualness" aspect of my social life for quite a while afterward.
Of course as "mad" doctors and scientists are prone, most do not see themselves as "mad" at all, but rather as "world shaking innovators" far ahead of their times. No doubt Dean and Missy feel that they are providing a valuable and much needed service for the wealthy elite with a particular mindset.
I found this movie suspenseful and thrilling. Like a good mystery it had me guessing at who, when, how, and what's coming next. And I will add this about the DVD, it offered a chance to see the alternate ("originally planned") ending. Much more can and should be said about this not-so-subtle contemplative film, but I leave that for others to mention after they've actually seen it!

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Don't forget that Williams starred in NBC's 2014 special "Peter Pan Live!" Jordan Peele saw it and became interested in casting her in "Get Out."

I forgot about that. That was the live thing with Christopher Walken that got pretty mocked, as I recall. Two people have responded to your post with laughing emojis, so I'm uncertain if your intention was to be serious or sarcastic when you say Jordan Peele cast her largely off of this performance. IMDB says she will be in a suspense thriller called The Perfection, currently in pre-production and allegedly due out sometime this year.

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I forgot about that. That was the live thing with Christopher Walken that got pretty mocked, as I recall. Two people have responded to your post with laughing emojis, so I'm uncertain if your intention was to be serious or sarcastic when you say Jordan Peele cast her largely off of this performance. IMDB says she will be in a suspense thriller called The Perfection, currently in pre-production and allegedly due out sometime this year.

Come on, you've got to admit that is a funny little clip, now don't yah?

3 minutes ago, sewhite2000 said:

Don't forget that Williams starred in NBC's 2014 special "Peter Pan Live!" Jordan Peele saw it and became interested in casting her in "Get Out."

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I forgot about that. That was the live thing with Christopher Walken that got pretty mocked, as I recall. Two people have responded to your post with laughing emojis, so I'm uncertain if your intention was to be serious or sarcastic when you say Jordan Peele cast her largely off of this performance. IMDB says she will be in a suspense thriller called The Perfection, currently in pre-production and allegedly due out sometime this year.

It was no joke. Here's a quote from Williams herself:

“Jordan cast me because of Peter Pan. He was like, ‘If she could fly on live television for three hours with Christopher Walken walking around beneath her, she’ll do anything…She’s got this innocence, she played Peter Pan. We need someone who immediately the audience trusts because the movie just gets going and you have to be on her side’ ”

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I look forward to the Oscars, warts and all. Less grandstanding would be nice, but it's always a matter of degree. Gary Oldman was humble in his victory speech. Frances McDormand I liked, too. She has an integrity (as does Oldman) in that it's about the work, not being the most glamorous. She's truly unique. The stunt of going into the movie theater to "surprise" the patrons totally backfired. It was like the gods descending from above, and gracing the mortals with their presence. Finally, I was thrilled to see Roger Deakins and James Ivory win.

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Speaking about Oscars... I am going to share a nomination prediction article from the early 90s. I already shared it one place, but I just find the whole thing fascinating in hindsight.

Quote

I found something on the website for the Chicago Tribune which is quite interesting. It is a 26 year old article of Oscar nomination predictions for the films of 1991, and quite a few of these ended up happening.... Here they are with my little notes afterwards on nominees who got in instead.

Picture

Sure-shots: ``The Silence of the Lambs,`` ``Beauty and the Beast,`` ``Bugsy``

Interesting to note there were no sure-shots listed here. Kingsley and Keitel were the only two to make it in. Other nominees were Tommy Lee Jones in JFK, Michael Lerner in Barton Fink, and the ultimate winner, Jack Palance in City Slickers.

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I seem to recall that Bugsy and JFK were the two most likely contenders, going by Oscar history.

Bugsy had old Hollywood glamour, a major movie star acting opposite his real-life romantic partner and the one that would finally make Hollywood's most notorious ladies man settle down, it was a period piece, and it featured movie-making as a plot point, and Hollywood loves itself.

JFK was epic-length, stuffed with recognizable stars and character actors stretching their range, flashy and "modern" in its style, and Oliver Stone was still regarded as one of the best directors working.

Silence of the Lambs came out as a dark horse. It was a gruesome thriller that many labeled as straight-up horror. It made no pretensions to high art or saying something profound. It simply was what it was, and did what it wanted to do very well. It also had the Oscar handicap of having come out early in the year (all the way back in February of '91), which is usually an awards-season death sentence.

Cape Fear got pretty mixed reviews, with a lot critics saying it was "beneath" both Scorsese and De Niro. Despite his eventual Oscar nomination, this was the beginning of De Niro's critical decline, with many singling him out as one of the movie's weak points. I like the movie, and De Niro in it, but I like the original more.

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Silence of the Lambs came out as a dark horse. It was a gruesome thriller that many labeled as straight-up horror. It made no pretensions to high art or saying something profound. It simply was what it was, and did what it wanted to do very well. It also had the Oscar handicap of having come out early in the year (all the way back in February of '91), which is usually an awards-season death sentence.

Not much of a handicap in the Blockbuster Video era. "The Silence of the Lambs" was the first Best Picture winner to be in wide release on home video before Oscar night.

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I seem to recall that Bugsy and JFK were the two most likely contenders, going by Oscar history.

Bugsy had old Hollywood glamour, a major movie star acting opposite his real-life romantic partner and the one that would finally make Hollywood's most notorious ladies man settle down, it was a period piece, and it featured movie-making as a plot point, and Hollywood loves itself.

JFK was epic-length, stuffed with recognizable stars and character actors stretching their range, flashy and "modern" in its style, and Oliver Stone was still regarded as one of the best directors working.

Silence of the Lambs came out as a dark horse. It was a gruesome thriller that many labeled as straight-up horror. It made no pretensions to high art or saying something profound. It simply was what it was, and did what it wanted to do very well. It also had the Oscar handicap of having come out early in the year (all the way back in February of '91), which is usually an awards-season death sentence.

Cape Fear got pretty mixed reviews, with a lot critics saying it was "beneath" both Scorsese and De Niro. Despite his eventual Oscar nomination, this was the beginning of De Niro's critical decline, with many singling him out as one of the movie's weak points. I like the movie, and De Niro in it, but I like the original more.

Cape Fear wasn't nominated for BP, though, since that was the year that Bugsy & JFK were still buried in December NY/LA releases, Barbara Streisand's Prince of Tides was still also considered a dark horse (with only female/gay industry support for Director Barbara and the daddy-issues story), and voters, of course, "wouldn't remember" Silence from spring...

So what were the big fantasy-baseball picks in November '91, when we didn't have Dec./Jan. movies to pick from yet? That was when a lot of grownup analysts and critics who wanted serious grownup validation of their love for Beauty & the Beast's big critically-acclaimed NY Film Festival "Work in Progress" showing (it's a good movie, we're not creepy pedophiles!) said "Great, without Silence, what the heck have we got to nominate for Picture this year?...A Disney animated musical?"

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Yeah, I should have mentioned that there was some real consideration that Beauty and the Beast would win Best Picture. I remember reading an article or two making the case for it.

If the Best Animated Film Category had existed back then, I have no doubt it would have been nominated in that category and won. But then it seems to me that Disney at that time was the only studio making animated films, and no animated competition to go up against.

Also aside from SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, JFK, BUGSY, PRINCE OF TIDES, 1991 was a pretty weak year for movies (though I do like BARTON FINK, CAPE FEAR and THE FISHER KING as well as BUGSY and LAMBS), so BEAST's inclusion into Best Picture wasn't really a shock for me.